He's completely wrong. Denethor despairs, to be sure, but even in his despair he neither surrenders nor submits to Mordor. You do recall the grand scene when Denethor ends the siege of Gondor by opening the gates to the army of the Witch King, right? Of course you don't, because it never happened.

Denethor despairs and commits suicide. Saruman, on the other hand, despairs, submits, and surrenders to Sauron, with the idea that by doing so, he can eventually achieve some level of influence over Sauron. Consider his address to Gandalf, after revealing himself to be Saruman of Many Colors:

"A new Power is rising. Against it the old allies and policies will not avail us at all. There is no hope left in Elves or dying Numenor. This then is one choice before you, before us. We may join with that Power. It would be wise, Gandalf. There is hope that way. Its victory is at hand and there will be rich reward for those that aided it. As the Power grows, its proved friends will also grow; and the Wise, such as you and I, may with patience come at last to direct its courses, to control it. We can bide our time, we can keep our thoughts in our hearts, deploring maybe evils done by the way, but approving the high and ultimate purpose: Knowledge, Rule, Order; all the things that we have so far striven in vain to accomplish, hindered rather than helped by our weak or idle friends."

Kunae ‏@Kinslaughterer
It's worse: Saurman, after preaching moderation, turns on his erstwhile allies and attacks them with words, then armies.

In other words, I was correct. Saruman is a true cuckservative.
The #AltRight will never join with that Power. We are the Men of the West and we will neither bow to Mordor nor listen to the mouths of its emissaries sent out to deceive the ignorant.

UPDATE: Give Richard some credit. Unlike many, he can admit when he is wrong.

Richard GadsdIN ‏@po8crgI've read your blogpost and I owe you an apology. I'd forgotten the post-Helm's Deep stuff and you were right.

I'm not going to say there is absolutely no chance I will get something wrong about The Lord of the Rings, but let's just say the odds are very, very, very low considering how many times I have read the books over the years. As a general rule, if it is a) Tolkien, b) economic theory, or c) computer games from 1980 to 2000, think twice, then think again before you call me out on what you think is an error.

I'm #NeverAragorn! The Stewards of Gondor are the right and proper leaders of this house. I'd rather kneel to Saruman than some pasty, unkempt ranger. It doesn't matter if his traveling companion is an elf, he refused to submit to the counsel of Elrond! He says he would end the war with those miserable Southrons but claims he can win the war with Sauron? You all are gullible, unprincipled sheep!

I'm not a big LOTR guy but a CURSORY wikipedia browse (I doubled checked the editing history) shows this guy to be a total fool:

"Unlike Saruman, Denethor was too strong to be corrupted by Sauron. In the novel, he began secretly using a palantír to probe Sauron's strength, though he incorrectly insisted he was able to control it. The effort aged him quickly, and the knowledge of Sauron's overwhelming force depressed him greatly, mostly due to deliberately biased visions from the palantír on the part of Sauron. Boromir's death depressed Denethor further, and he became ever more grim. Nonetheless he continued to fight Sauron with every resource at his disposal until the forces of Mordor arrived at the gates of the White City, at which point he lost all hope."

What drives the parasites is pure envy. What they can't make or take, they want to destroy.

This is why their target these days is "privilege." They rage at the gifts men are bequeathed by their ancestors (Western Civ's high-trust, low corruption system, relatively high IQ, low time preference, etc.)

They used to be satisfied to take the products of those gifts from those who made them (via redistributive taxation, regulations and minority set-asides) but the more the parasites are shuffled (like a deck of cards) into contact with productive people, the more enraged become the parasites at their open inability to keep up.

This war is not ideological. It is every bit as genetic as is the heritability of intelligence, time preference and social trust.

The use of the term, "white privilege" is an open declaration of war, openly stating their intention to wipe the producers from the planet because our shining example forces all but a few minorities to see how permanently behind they are.

The movies make Denethor look worse than he was. It was the right thing to tell his son, commander of his military, to hold the chokepoint at all costs; in the movie, this was depicted with usual over sentimentality as a wrong choice. The movies depicted him as a crazy old fool, when that crazy old fool had held out like the last Byzantine emperors - no support from the west and north, only enemies from the south and east, his lands being chewed up slowly all around him.

Saruman & Denethor are great metaphors for the corruption of power; the first is rendered utterly evil by his association with it, the latter is rendered utterly insane to the point of sending his own son out to die in a pointless battle along with other indispensable soldiers.

This SOOOOO reminds me of the kind of people now running the USA's political system.

Do you ever wonder if the people carrying around the nuclear football have too much in common with Denethor?

> The use of the term, "white privilege" is an open declaration of war, openly stating their intention to wipe the producers from the planet because our shining example forces all but a few minorities to see how permanently behind they are.

Ellsworth Toohey speaking in "The Fountainhead":

“Look at it. A sublime achievement, isn't it? A heroic achievement. Think of the thousands who worked to create this and of the millions who profit by it. And it is said that but for the spirit of a dozen men, here and there down the ages, but for a dozen men--less, perhaps--none of this would have been possible. And that might be true. If so, there are--again--two possible attitudes to take. We can say that these twelve were great benefactors, that we are all fed by the overflow of the magnificent wealth of their spirit, and that we are glad to accept it in gratitude and brotherhood. Or, we can say that by the splendor of their achievement which we can neither equal nor keep, these twelve have shown us what we are, that we do not want the free gifts of their grandeur, that a cave by an oozing swamp and a fire of sticks rubbed together are preferable to skyscrapers and neon lights--if the cave and the sticks are the limit of your own creative capacities. Of the two attitudes, Dominique, which would you call the truly humanitarian one? Because, you see, I'm a humanitarian.”

IIRC the movie depicted Denethor as guzzling food and drink while sending his son off on a suicide mission. It was a jarring scene, with Denethor as a spineless degenerate, addicted to food, sociopathic in his disregard of his city, his troops, and his flesh and blood. Tolkien's Denethor had a lot more to him than that.

The movies depicted him as a crazy old fool, when that crazy old fool had held out like the last Byzantine emperors

Peter Jackson (along with his writing 'help') doesn't understand and can't portray characters with that kind of depth, so unless the actor can bring depth to the role based on their own talents and experience, it's not there. The best Jackson could do, and it served him well enough to get by in LOTR (the Hobbit not so much), was to pick one or two prominent traits and produce a fairly one-dimensional/stereotypical character. Except Faramir. No one knows what the heck was going on with him.

Josh Silver wrote:You know I've never read Mein Kampf before but I found a copy on the free table in the library last night so I picked it up. It is scary to see how close Hitler is to Trump's blowhardedness.

Sensei wrote: The movies depicted him as a crazy old fool, when that crazy old fool had held out like the last Byzantine emperors

Peter Jackson (along with his writing 'help') doesn't understand and can't portray characters with that kind of depth, so unless the actor can bring depth to the role based on their own talents and experience, it's not there. The best Jackson could do, and it served him well enough to get by in LOTR (the Hobbit not so much), was to pick one or two prominent traits and produce a fairly one-dimensional/stereotypical character. Except Faramir. No one knows what the heck was going on with him.

I will give Jackson some credit...in trying to make the motivations of Boromir more clear, Denethor had to be sacrificed. "Because he's crazy" is a lot easier to portray to the audience than "Because he's put in an untenable position."

I'm not sure how to display the exhaustion, the feelings of abandonment, and the disgust with the rest of the middle earth that Gondor was feeling to the audience without making the damn film even longer.

although I am still chuckling at #NeverAragorn...

"Does this pretty boy Númenórean think he is just going to STRIDE into the role of king? #NeverAragorn"

Re. 1203. It seems to me Hitler didn't understand that according to the Old Testament which Jesus Christ did not come to abolish but to fulfill. God will bless those who bless Israel and curse those who curse Israel

I'm not sure how to display the exhaustion, the feelings of abandonment, and the disgust with the rest of the middle earth that Gondor was feeling to the audience without making the damn film even longer.

Boromir already did this to some extent, talking about how Gondor was shouldering all the burden to protect Middle Earth. All you'd need to add was maybe a complaining comment from a foot soldier, and to make Denethor less grimy and more regally weary. I always imagined Peter Cushing nailing the role perfectly.

Maybe Jackson could have cut back on Elijah Wood reaction shots. He wasted an enormous amount of time trying to establish Real Emotions because he had no grasp of subtlety.

Jackson's problem is he's a special effects guy masquerading as a story teller. His understanding of the core story was childishly simple - as evidenced by his choice of a waifish former child actor with two facial expressions to play the stoic hero.

Remember that his initial choice for Aragorn was Stuart Townsend, a twentysomething skinny pretty boy best known for playing aristocratic fops.

Josh Silver wrote:You know I've never read Mein Kampf before but I found a copy on the free table in the library last night so I picked it up. It is scary to see how close Hitler is to Trump's blowhardedness.

You guys are Trump supporters. Bascially you guys think like Hitler.

You know, I never read The Foundations of Leninism but I found a copy on a dead bum outside of a crack house so I picked it up. It is scary to see how close Stalin's political views are like yours.

There is a reason that Tolkien's archetypes hold true now and across the globe. These are true.

It doesn't matter that Strider, Saruman, or Denethor were fictional. What matters is that they speak to us. All of us both those that embrace them for the truth and those who avert their eyes from the truth and shriek against it. We're all living with and seeing the same truth some acknowledge it and some rail against it.

So choose. Choose which archetype you want to embrace. Do you understand loyalty is a two way street? Do you want to see truth and beauty? Do you want your people to be better, to be great?

Or do you want to be Saruman, Bill Ferny, Ted Sandyman? Even Denethor who despaired and Boromir who repented were on the right side. Better to be Aragorn who worked tirelessly never forgetting his people. Faramir who when faced with corruption never considered giving in. Or Eowyn a woman who stood between her king and kin and a literal demon.

We all know these archetypes. Those of us who love them love truth, beauty and their civilization. Those who don't who choose the way of Saruman, they deserve his fate.

"I'm not sure how to display the exhaustion, the feelings of abandonment, and the disgust with the rest of the middle earth that Gondor was feeling to the audience without making the damn film even longer."

Here's an idea: cut out all the crap involving Arwen, the Super Girl Elf.

Those movies were utter crap, made by a special effects guy who didn't actually grasp half the story. It wasn't what he removed from them that made them utter crap (except maybe the scouring of the shire) but what he added. Damnable Super Elf Girl is suspect numero uno.

@39 Arwen was a big mistake. The lack of the Scouring of the Shire was a big mistake. And Jackson really doesn't understand heroism. He's like Steven King, he can write villains, victims, and the deranged. But true heroes? No.

Jackson just saw this pretty story he liked and thought Hobbits were short hippies. He understood none of the virtue of Faramir, the despair of Eowyn, the steadfast friendship between Sam and Frodo. Jackson doesn't get it at all. He allowed his writing team to rape the Hobbit. I hate to say that about a children's book but he did.

If he understood any Western, Christian virtues he would have written a very different movie.

And what about the story they chose not to cover in the movie. I have forgotten the female character, but she is a warrior and disguises herself to go off into battle. Then she learns that her true nature is that of a healer. We can't have a narrative where we don't have skinny women beating up on men ;)

@43 EmmettThere is out on the torrents a 3-hour cut & splice of The Hobbit that is much superior to the nine hour / three movie mess tha Jackson made of it. It removes almost all the non-JRRT bits and is a decent movie in an of itself.

I though the LOTR movies were actually quite good for the most part. Take out Arwen the Magnificent and they seemed fairly close to the text for a movie treatment.

Now the Hobbit movies were shite. I felt bad about not taking my kids when they came out, but after the first one I was like, nope. So they watched them on cable and would get bored and go outside after a while.

@ Josh Silver:You know I've never read a transcript of the Rosenberg spy trial before but I found a copy in the burn barrel outside a Jewish community center last night so I picked it up. It is scary to see how close Communist fifth columnists are to SJW Trump-haters.

You guys are SJW Trump-haters. Basically you guys think like Julius and Ethel Rosenberg.

Tolkein nicely does the two faces of despair.Denethor sees only defeat in the offing. Having lost the son he loved, widowed, alone. His remaining son despised as an enduring disappointment who will never, in his esteem, be able to rule Gondor as it should, no, MUST, be ruled to survive. Thinking himself without aid, and without friends and without hope. At the extremity, he despairs of House, Nation and Life, and seeks only an end.Eowyn lives similarly a world of despair. Noble daughter of a noble house, watching her brother and uncle ride off to their certain death. The only prospect she can see for herself and her people is to survive a few months or years against an enemy that is certain to come, and certain to destroy them. Even though she knows she will be needed as a ruling queen, her sense of duty is not enough to rally her. Eowyn too despairs of House, of Nation, of Life itself. Yet, she has one hope left. She hopes to strike a blow beside her king. That only, not to prevail, not to survive, but to strike a blow.And she becomes the greatest warrior of that day. Greater than the Master of the Eored. Greater than the returning king of Numenor. Greater than the supernatural wizard. Standing over the dead body of her uncle and protector, she laughs in the ace of the demon and strikes it a mortal blow, though it kill her.

My God, I'm tearing up just thinking about it.Tolkein well understood the Pagan virtues.

I thought it was Eowyn, but I'm "working" and couldn't look it up. There were scenes in the book that I really wish they had covered. The rebuilding of the Shire is one. You needed to know that even back home, life had been changed.

The abuse of political power is fundamentally connected with the sophistic abuse of the word, indeed, finds in it the fertile soil in which to hide and grow and get ready, so much so that the latent potential of the totalitarian poison can be ascertained, as it were, by observing the symptom of the public abuse of language. The degradation, too, of man through man, alarmingly evident in the acts of physical violence committed by all tyrannies has its beginning, certainly much less alarmingly, at that almost imperceptible moment when the word loses its dignity.

The dignity of the word, to be sure consists in this: through the word is accomplished what no other means can accomplish, namely, communication based on reality. Once again it becomes evident that both areas, as has to be expected are connected: the relationship based on mere power, and thus the most miserable decay of human interaction, stands in direct proportion to the most devastating breakdown in orientation toward reality.

Another interesting aspect of The Lord of the Rings is that Tolkien advocated to an extent for racial purity; the Númenóreans were a superior race because the best racial stock - - the Edain - - were a step above the the lesser races of men (usually described as "swarthy"), with the line of Númenórean kings actually improved with an admixture of Elven ancestry. In Middle-Earth as the Númenóreans declined in number due to numerous wars and an apparently low reproductive rate - - comparable to modern 1st-world Earth - - they had to begin diluting their purity with the blood of lesser races, which led to the Kin-Strife, shortening of lifespans, and lessening of wisdom. See the parallels with modern Europe/US?

"The degradation, too, of man through man, alarmingly evident in the acts of physical violence committed by all tyrannies has its beginning, certainly much less alarmingly, at that almost imperceptible moment when the word loses its dignity."

This was was the case with Saruman. He counsel was false long before he assembled his armies.

I have it on good authority that Tolkien only settled for the name Grima Wormtongue because for all his knowledge and inventiveness of languages, he'd never heard the word Scalzi. Even with his hunched back, at least Wormtongue could still bench more than your average shield-maiden.

As an aside, "Beck" and "Cuck" almost rhyme. Co-inky-dink? I think not.

In actuary work the risk assessment matters of suicidality, self harm fails and causes more disability/incapacitated when one awakens to a new nightmare. People and their problems have spilled into great twitter content for Vox to glean from. I am rather surprised Ken White has not tweeted back at Vox this week.

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